CategoryCase Study

The Chicago Cubs are an iconic baseball team known across the nation for winning the World Series in 2016 for the first time in over a century. However, the team was not always known by this name. In fact, The Cubs have had several team names over the years. The shift in the Cubs’ various team names can be traced with the way the team changed over the years. The Cubs started playing baseball for...

If you ask almost anyone on the street where they know the name “Nike” from, they’re likely to tell you about the sportswear brand, not the Greek goddess of victory from whom the company takes its name. In circles outside of the cult of classicists, the brand name Nike has eclipsed the original meaning. NIke did not always have such a catchy, impactful business name, however. When the company was...

Few people know that Google is not simply an abstract brand name–it takes its name from an augmentation of googol, a term for 10 raised to the 100th power. But what if we told you that Google was not always known by their iconic, memorable brand name? If you aren’t convinced that brand names matter, Google’s history might change your mind. Back in 1996 when Google first launched, they went...

Amazon is a widely-recognized brand that has grown to immense success over the years. However, the retailer might not be what they are today if its founder Jeff Bezos had not made a strategic business change early in its lifespan. Originally, Bezos started an online book retailer, Cadabra. He wanted to market it as “Earth’s Largest Bookstore.” The term Cadabra came from the magic word...

In 1967, renowned and controversial ex-Harvard professor Richard Alpert left America. After running experiences and studies involving psychedelic drugs, Alpert set out to India. When he returned, he returned as Ram Dass This move, while influenced by spiritual practice, was essentially rebranding. Richard Alpert was born to an upper-class Jewish family in Massachusetts. He was well-educated...